Iranians seize Iraqi oil well on border, Iraq says

BAGHDAD – Armed Iranian troops crossed the border and took over an Iraqi oil well, violating the country’s sovereignty, an Iraqi government spokesman said Friday.

Iraq’s national security council met Friday night to discuss the takeover of well No. 4 by the Iranian group in the al-Fakkah oil field.

Iraqi spokesman Ali al-Dabbagh said in a statement after the meeting that Iraq and Iran have begun diplomatic talks as a result of the incursion.

The deputy minister, Mohammed Haj Mahmoud, said Iranian troops seized the oil field, located about 200 miles southeast of Baghdad. The oil field is one of Iraq